Two great English piano sonatas frame a delightful sequence of lyrical miniatures by Sir Hubert Parry, Director of the Royal College of Music and composer of the well-loved Jerusalem. Christopher Edmunds also headed a British conservatoire, as Principal of the Birmingham School of Music from 1945-56, and his Piano Sonata is rhapsodic and passionate. The darkly war-grieving Frank Bridge Sonata, one of the greatest twentieth century piano sonatas, shows the composer’s troubled state of mind in the wake of the First World War. All these works will feature on Duncan Honeybourne’s new 2-disc set of British piano music for the EM Records label.
Commended by International Piano magazine for his "glittering performances", Duncan Honeybourne enjoys a colourful and diverse career as a pianist and in music education.
His debut in 1998 as concerto soloist at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and the National Concert Hall, Dublin, was broadcast on radio and television, and recital debuts included London, Paris, and international festivals in Belgium and Switzerland. Duncan’s debut CD was described by Gramophone magazine as “not to be missed by all lovers of English music”, whilst BBC Music Magazine reported: “There are gorgeous things here. Hard to imagine better performances.”
Honeybourne has toured extensively in the UK, Ireland and Europe as solo and lecture recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician, appearing at many major venues and leading festivals. His solo performances have been frequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and TV, Irish, French, Swiss, Austrian, Belgian, Dutch and German Radio, SABC (South Africa), ABC (Australia) and Radio New Zealand. Duncan’s many acclaimed recordings reflect his long association with 20th and 21st century British piano and chamber music and include works dedicated to him by several celebrated composers, plus complete recorded cycles of the solo piano music of Moeran and Joubert, and the violin/piano music of Parry. His solo discs have been awarded 5 stars in Musical Opinion and International Piano and featured as MusicWeb International Recording of the Year, CD of the Week on FMR Radio in South Africa and Recommended CD on ORF Austrian Radio's national cultural network. Premieres of over 70 solo piano works have included John Joubert's Third Piano Sonata, John Casken's Tempus Plangendi and the Andrew Downes's Piano Concerto at Birmingham Town Hall.
Duncan Honeybourne has written widely on musical topics for journals ranging from Classical Music magazine to The Times. He is a piano tutor at the University of Southampton and Sherborne School and gives regular masterclasses and adjudications.